Queens
by the sleepy queen
Summary: If I don't kiss you now, I'll never sleep again. A femslash drabble collection.
1. DaphneSu: Counting Stars

01. Counting Stars  
_Su Li & Daphne Greengrass_

* * *

Clutching a small piece of parchment in one hand, Su silently slipped up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, dark hair dancing behind her.

Daphne was already there, staring fixedly at the sky.

"You're early," Su said, shivering slightly. The note had said one o'clock and she was always at least ten minutes early. Ladies were never late.

"You're early too," Daphne retorted, still not looking Su in the eye. The clear night seemed to preoccupy her.

Su looked up too. The stars seemed brighter than she'd ever seen them, not stifled by the breathing of the world. It seemed as if everyone at Hogwarts was asleep. That is, everyone other than Daphne and herself. She stood there next to Daphne, staring at the cosmos for a good ten minutes in utter silence.

"Why'd you call me here, Greengrass? What are we doing?" Su asked, placing a hand, feather soft, on Daphne's arm to break her out of her apparent reverie.

"I thought maybe we could count the stars, if you'd like." Daphne replied, still refusing to look at the other witch. Her cheeks, already pink in the cold, flushed redder.

"Alright," said Su, staring solemnly at the Slytherin, face indecipherable.

"I'm sorry, I know it's silly."

"It's not."

Su's small, cold fingers tentatively wrapped around Daphne's slightly sweaty hand and they watched the sky for a wordless hour- the hour that began the rest of their lives.

Daphne counted the stars and Su counted her heartbeats.


	2. HestiaMarlene: Racing

02: Racing  
_Hestia Jones & Marlene McKinnon_

* * *

The silence was maddening.

Marlene McKinnon was the kind of girl who raced towards her future, mouth watering with anticipation. She shrugged off peaceful moments, waking at four in the morning and running, running, running until she collapsed of exhuastion. She was the kind of brilliant that didn't come around every day, full of detailed theories and quick wit. She was brilliant and never, ever still.

Even that cold Wednesday afternoon, she jiggled her leg impatiently under the table at the out-of-the-way muggle cafe and Hestia pretended not to notice.

That was what it was like with Marlene. She was impatient and selfish and never quite in the moment, always ready to go somewhere else. She was the kind of girl who ate sandwiches in her office instead of taking a lunch break and slipped into Hestia's bed at midnight without as much as a word.

If Hestia had to guess, Marlene probably hadn't gone out for lunch since Hogwarts. And yet, she was the one who had called her here. It didn't take a Divination whiz to figure something wasn't right.

And Marlene hadn't spoken a word save a terse greeting ten minutes ago.

Hestia felt antsy. Just as she opened her mouth in another feeble attempt to remove the veil of silence, Marlene interrupted her.

"We shouldn't see each other anymore." Marlene's dark brown eyes stared straight into Hestia's, indecipherable.

"Oh."

And that was all she could respond with. In a way, she had been expecting it. The older witch wasn't as hard to read as she liked to believe. Marlene had been coming home later and later, purposefully leaving the dishes dirty solely to upset Hestia, dropping hints she was involved in something dangerous... It was not unexpected. Aurors didn't have steady girlfriends during wartime. They had flings (or wives).

Hestia got up and turned to leave, ignoring her stomach tying itself in knots. And Marlene looked down at the table, picking at some stain with one cleanly manicured finger. She didn't say anything to stop her.

There was a war going on and Marlene McKinnon couldn't sit still and hold the girl of her dreams. She had to keep running, keep fighting, keep the darkness away from the people she loved most.

Someday, Hestia would forgive her.


	3. SusanHannah: Comfort

03. Comfort  
_Susan Bones & Hannah Abbott_

* * *

Hannah wore nostalgia like perfume. Just being next to her was immensely comforting for Susan, like drinking hot cocoa on a cold winter day. They didn't have to do anything- just touch. They would spend the afternoons laying together on the couch instead of listening to the invisible ghosts clamoring up the stairs of their houses. And their bodies would spill innocently into each other when Hannah held Susan as she cried, bringing them back to the thundering nights at Hogwarts when Susan would crawl into Hannah's bed without a word.

Even then, Hannah knew what to do and Susan was scared out of her mind. It was always like that. Hannah was strong and Susan was terrified.


	4. LavenderParvati: Hair

04. Hair  
_Lavender Brown & Parvati Patil_

* * *

Lavender brushed Parvati's hair using long, even strokes, careful not to apply too much pressure. Too much pressure and the comb's teeth would dig into her scalp, too much pressure and the glossy hairs would break (too much pressure and Parvati would break).

Once upon a time, Lavender could've French braided the hair or tied it into an intricate knot. She could've teased it into a perfectly messy bun or charmed it to curl perfectly. But today, she just brushed it with slow, careful strokes.

War was a monster. A monster that kept Lavender subconsciously tracing her ugly ugly scars with one dainty finger. A monster that kept Parvati in the pits of despair.

Those nights after the war, more often than not, Parvati ended up sitting rigidly on the cold bathroom tile in her underwear, knees tucked behind her chin, looking into nowhere, completely nonresponsive.

And Lavender doesn't know why she picked up the comb and she doesn't know why she thought it would help, but she brushed Parvati's hair using long, even strokes, careful not to apply too much pressure, whispering _I love you_ with every stroke.


End file.
